Also read Part 1: Zero Hora's integration - always more editorial planning

Cross-platform planning, budget and promotion

Zero Hora went through a smooth integration process in large part because the RBS group has had a long tradition of dealing with editorial convergence across its multimedia assets (there are no restrictions on cross-media ownership in Brazil). According to Sirotsky, all outlets carry out regular cross-promotion, probably the most cost-effective way to market RBS: the radio promotes the print edition, which refers to the website, which carries TV-produced content online (all content produced the TV stations are stored in RBS-wide common area of the server), and so on.

Nowadays though, as an increasing number of newspapers are part of media groups, however big or small, many papers could benefit from Zero Hora’s converged approach.

TV stations are RBS’ biggest asset, bringing in about 50% of total revenue, while newspapers represent about 40% of the company’s revenues. Radio counts for 5-6%, and online for the remaining 4%, but is enjoying double-digit growth.

For major scheduled news events, representatives from all platforms gather at a Product Committee meeting, led by Sirotsky, during which they discuss their coverage needs and establish a cross-platform budget and commissioning. For each particular event, a ‘sponsor’ is chosen from one of the platforms (TV for example). A sub-committee is then created with representatives from each platform, led by the TV representative, and they decide how to cover the issue. For advertising campaigns, a single campaign is typically outsourced to a specialized agency, and all platforms share the costs appropriately.

For the 2008 Beijing Olympics, a team of about 14 reporters will be sent to China. Since TV stations will carry the bulk of the coverage, they also participate to the bulk of the investment. A reporter from TV will also be blogging for the newspaper online portal, while both radio speakers and print reporters will participate in TV interviews and commentary during the events. “This is how we produce a strong synergy and in the end we do a better job,” said Sirotsky.

For smaller or unscheduled news assignments, RBS has also rolled out a centralized content management system across its platforms. At all times, journalists and editors from Zero Hora can look at the budget of the TV or radio stations, and vice versa. A fiber optic cord provides a direct connection between the TV studios and the newspaper, where about 10 staffers regularly scan through the new content. If one outlet, say the online newspaper, were interested in expanding on a TV story, Gleich simply calls up the TV editor to ask how the site or newspaper can complement the report.

In some cases, a TV reporter will directly file a text story to be used by the website, which is then rewritten or edited by the newspaper staff. At other times, the scoop will be first unveiled at the 7 o’clock news report on TV, before being expanded upon at 7:30pm on the site.

RBS reporters have followed a simple rule until now, which seems to have worked, despite the huge size of the media company and the often-existent rivalry that can arise across different departments of a single news organization. “We have a deal here: you cannot steal an idea or the news found by another platform,” said Gleich.

Integration: Journalists becoming editors?

In a former interview, Gleich mentioned that with the integration process “the reporter must think like an editor.” The concept in itself is straightforward: as journalists are required to gather content for multiple platforms, they must increasingly think of the final outcome or package of a story before, or during, the news gathering process – a role previously reserved to the editor (who in the past was dedicated to a single platform anyway). In the future, the ratio of reporters to editors will probably be much nearer to fifty-fifty. In the integrated structure, the traditionally vertical journalist-to-editor hierarchy becomes more of horizontal teamwork between both.

On the other hand, Gleich also said that editors have become much more important during the integration process, since they must now process information coming from all media, and process it for different platforms. There is also a lot more planning involved, as discussed in Part 1.

It may seem contradictory that both, on one hand, journalists increasingly take on the role of the ‘editors’ in their daily jobs, while at the same time the actual editors become increasingly important in the commissioning and planning process.

Indeed, as Rech explained, reporters must think like an editor on the ground (“you have to think before not just how to write the story but how can I handle all the other stories”), figuring out how infographics or video could be used to complement the story, or thinking of a sidebox with complementary information. In that sense, journalists are learning how to be copy editors.

However, with Zero Hora’s integration, the editors-in-chief are now even more important in taking the overhead decisions and commissioning reporters that will be able to ‘think like copy editors’ while on the ground.

The future: convergence accentuates platforms’ identities

With all the talks of media convergence, and as media organizations increasingly integrate or converge their operations, one might wonder whether the notion of different platforms or media (TV, radio, print, online) will be relevant in the future, or if all will be welded into one media product and simply be different components of the whole?

Not so, said Sirotsky. To the contrary, media convergence and integration will lead to the differentiation of each product and brand name. As different media converge, each media will keep its personality by focusing on its trademark traits. The print Zero Hora will increasingly carry analysis and plurality of opinions. The newspaper brand name (both for online and print) will continue to represent accurate and in-depth news, while RBS TV will represent a media for entertainment and sports, and so on.

“The challenge here is to adjust each brand for the new scenario,” said Sirotsky.


Source: Nelson Sirotsky, CEO of RBS – Marcelo Rech, editor, Zero Hora – Marta Gleich, editor, ZeroHora.com